836 



EARLY VOYAGES 
TO CALIFORNIA 

F865 
.E2 




002 036 881 




Class 



Book 



SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT 



t 



EARLY VOYAGES 



CALIFORNIA. 



[From Historical Collectious of tlie Et^sex Institute.] 



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THE 



EARLY DAYS AND RAPID GROWTH 



CALIFORNIA 



ALFKED PEABODY. 



VROM ESSKX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, VOL. XII, NO. 2. 



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SALEM, MASS.: 

PRINTED AT THE SALEM PRESS. 

1874. 



ON THE EARLY DAYS AND RAPID 
GROWTH OF CALIFORNIA. 

It may not be generally recollected that California was 
ceded in 1848 by Mexico to the United States, she paying 
fifteen million dollars. The treaty between the two gov- 
ernments was signed by the United States in March of 
the same year, and by Mexico in May. 

At that time the extent of the gold fields was not 
known, though in January it was at first discovered by a 
man digging a mill-race for Capt. Sutter, who at that time 
wned the land on which Sacramento City now stands. 

When the news of the discovery of gold reached here, 

a the isthmus, in early summer, it was credited but by 
tt very few. Soon several parcels were sent here, and 
large shipments, with letters from well known residents 
there, confirming the fact, and with these came also ac- 
counts of a large immigration from the region around 
California, even from the Sandwich Islands and Chili. 

The scarcity and high price of provisions, mining im- 
plements, houses, lumber, etc., at a place where the 
returns were gold, greatly aroused the spirit of enter- 
prise, and late in the autumn companies in many of the 
seaboard cities Avere formed, and vessels purchased to 
take cargo and passengers round Cape Horn, there being 
only one steamer monthly between California and New 
York, via the Isthmus. 

About the first of December, 1848, I applied to John 
Bertram, Esq., to undertake a voyage there, which re- 
sulted in himself and five other gentlemen of Salem 

3 



loading the bark Eliza, ^ Capt. A. S. Perkins, with an 
assorted cargo, and I went out in her to dispose of it, 
and to establish myself as a commission merchant. 

The cargo consisted of flour, pork, hams, sugar, coffee, 
butter, cheese, rice, figs, raisins, dried apples, bread, 
meal, pickles, boots, shoes, domestics, chairs, nails, cook 
stoves, bake pans, kettles, axes, shovels, picks, and a 
great variety of small articles, lumber, and not of least 
importance, a store, also materials for building a boat or 
scow, for dredging in the rivers or on sand bars, together 
with a small steam engine, a lathe, and tools for repairs. 
There were six passengers, Messrs. John Beadle, Jona- 
than Nichols, Dennis Rideout, George Buflfum, George 
Kenny and James Parker, all of Salem. One of these 
was a boat builder, one a carpenter, and two machinists. 
These were selected from numerous applicants, with a 
view to carry out our plans on arrival if they were found 
to be practicable. The " Eliza " was the first vessel that 
sailed from Massachusetts with an assorted cargo and pas- 
sengers direct for San Francisco, though Capt. Eagleston 
was loading the Brig "Mary and Ellen" for the Sandwich 
Islands when the gold discoveries were confirmed, and 
he changed her voyage to San Francisco and the Sand- 
wich Islands, and cleared from Salem Oct. 27th. 

On the morning of our sailing from Derby wharf, Dec. 



'The "Eliza" was built at Salem, in 1822, by Thomas and David 
Magoun, for Joseph White ; sold by his heirs in 1832 to David Piugree, 
and again in 1846 to Michael Shepard and others. Tonnage, 204 
tons. For several years previous in the Zanzibar trade. 

The officers and crew were, Captain, Augustine Staniford Perkins, 
now residing in Salem ; first officer, Joseph Perkins, who bought a 
farm at Clipper Gap, California, and has since lived at that place; 
second officer, William Hunt. Seamen, Amos Niles, Leander J. John- 
son, Ebenezer Fox, William Smith, Henry C. Perkins, Abel Martin, 
and John Lambert. 



23, 1848, a great crowd hatl assembled to take leave of 
friends, and to give a hearty hurrah. Just as they were 
casting off the bark's fasts a song,^ composed for the occa- 
sion b}' some friends of one of the passengers, was struck 

up by him, 

" The wash bowl on my knee," 

Tune, Oiil Susanna. (Key G.) 

1. ^I came from Salem City, 

With my washbowl on my knee, 
I'm going to California, 

The gold dust for to see. 
It rained all night the day I left, 

The weather, it was dry, 
The sun so hot I froze to death. 
Oh ! brothers, don't you cry. 
Oh! California, 
That's the laud for me ! 

I'n) going to Sacramento 
With my washbowl on my kuee. 

2. I jumped aboard the 'Liza ship. 

And travelled on the sea, 
And every time I thought of home 

I wished it wasn't me ! 
The vessel reared like any horse 

That had of oats a wealth ; 
I found it wouldn't throw me, so 

1 thought I'd tlirow m3'self. 
Oh I California, etc. 

3. I thought of all the pleasant times 

We've had together here, 
I thought I ort to cry a bit, 

But couldn't find a tear. 
The pilot bread was in my mouth, 

The gold dust in my eye, 
And though I'm going far away 

Dear brothers, don't you cry. 
Oh ! California, etc. 

4. I soon shall be in Francisco, 

And then I'll look all round, 
And when I see the gold lumps there 

I'll pick them off the ground. 
I'll scrape the mountains clean, my boys, 

I'll drain the rivers dry, 
A pocket full of rocks bring home, 

So, brotliers, don't you cry. 
Ohl California, etc. 



and the passengers joined in the chorus. This was called 
the "California Song," and was sung on board of every 
vessel going round Cape Horn, and by immigrants over 
the plains. It was afterwards published in a London 
Quarterly as a Californian miner's song, illustrative of 
camp life at the diggings. ' 

■ After letting go our fiists the bark grounded, a rope 
was passed from on board to the spectators on the wharf, 
and hundreds of them laid hold of it with such a gusto 
that they walked her off as if a powerful tug boat had 
hold of her. 

The voyage from the coast was without any very bad 
weather, and we had a pleasant set of passengers, rather 
musical withal — one played the violin, another the ac- 
cordeon, a third the tamborine, and I played skilfully 
on the triangle. When we passed near a vessel we 
would ix'ivQ them the California sons:, with all the accom- 
paniments. 

Anxiety to get out before other vessels, soon to follow 
us with similar cargoes, stimulated Capt. Perkins to take 
advantage of every wind, and even the gales, when favor- 
able, and when struggling off Cape Horn I often wished 
the bark was twenty 3^cars younger. Our voyage in the 
Pacific was a very pleasant one, and much of our time 
was occupied in building a boat for exploration up the 
river. 

We arrived at San Francisco, June 1, 1849, one hun- 
dred and sixty days passage, and anchored about nine, 
P.M. We went on shore the next morning, landing on 
an old wharf about forty feet long, the only one in the 
place. Our first inquiry was if the gold held out, and 
we were much pleased to learn that before we left home 
the half had not been told. The city had a very new 
and unsettled appearance, the streets ran at right angles, 



uneven, and no sidewalks, some quite comfortable dwell- 
ings, a hotel on one side of the public square, and on the 
opposite was the custom house ; a very rough-looking 
building, built of adobe or sun-dried bricks. It was 
one story only, and had a veranda all round it. The 
shops were mostly of rough boards, their contents arti- 
cles of first necessity, mining tools and cooking utensils. 
Every one seemed to be busily employed, opening goods, 
selling and packing them for shipment. The mines being 
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles distant 
from San Francisco, all goods had to be taken in small 
vessels up to Sacramento City and to Stockton, and then 
distributed to difierent mining points. 

In these early days of California, United States laws 
had not been introduced there, and it was found neces- 
sary, in such a mixed population, for the safety of life 
and property, to establish Lynch law. Any one caught 
stealing would be strung up on the nearest tree. Going 
on shore the second morning after we arrived, some per- 
sons in a store were telling of their exploits the night 
before. A man was suspected of a robbery committed a 
few days before. He was taken by several persons to 
a tree near by, a rope put round his neck, and he was 
hoisted nearly from the ground, but his earnest protes- 
tations of innocence moved the 'hearts of his accusers, 
and they felt that they had made a mistake in the per- 
son and let him go. This was rather an unpleasant pro- 
cedure, and if mistakes of this kind should often occur, 
I felt that even a quiet man from Salem would be hardly 
secure. 

It was surprising to see how trade and every kind of 
business Avere rushed through without regard to the Sab- 
bath. Taking samples of some of our cargo on shore to 
try the market, the owner of the first store I Avent into 
was so busy he could not attend to me that day, so I pro- 



posed calling the next day, Saturday. *'No," he said, 
"come Sunday." I replied that I never did business on 
Sunday. "Oh well!" said he, "you have just arrived; 
after you have been here a month you will do as we do." 
I replied that if no other man in California kept the 
Sabbath, I should. "You are right," he said ; "I wish I 
stood in your position, but I have gone with the crowd, 
aud I cannot well stop." 

As freights from San Francisco to Sacramento City, 
the head of navigation of that river, were very high, a 
great saving Avould be made by taking the "Eliza" up 
with her cargo. No vessel of her draft of water had ever 
gone up. After consulting with one of the best pilots on 
the river, we concluded to go up with her, and agreed 
with him to pilot her up, after lightening her a little, and 
he was to accompany her with a large schooner, to take 
the cargo in case she grounded, for which we paid him 
one thousand, seven hundred and twenty -five dollars, a 
heavy pilotage for one hundred and twenty miles. We 
worked our way up the river, grounding several times, 
but by heeling the bark, by changing hef cargo, chains 
and anchors, we got her off without discharging any 
cargo, and in six da3''s after we left San Francisco we 
moored her to two sturdy oak trees, at the foot of one 
of the principal streets, where she remained for years, 
having quite a history, as she was used as a store, a store 
house, a boarding house, and later, for years as a landing 
for steamers, in 1868 sold and broken up; most of the 
timbers and planking were in good condition. 

The first outlook on a town of seven build insfs and a 
few tents was not very encouraging to sell a valuable 
cargo like ours. It was evident from the dusty roads 
that there was not a little travel, and it must have been 
for trade, so on looking round we srained courasre. 

The Plat on which the city was located was covered with 



large oaks, and oak underbrush. The streets were laid 
out at right angles, one, upwards from west easterly, and 
A to Z from north southerly. 

AYe had struck off, at a printing place at Sutter's Fort 
a mile distant, lifty lists, costing fifty dollars, of the prin- 
cipal articles of our cargo fresh from Salem, and these 
were sent into the mines, the only means of advertising. 

Our crew, all except two faithful boys, left us on arrival. 
The passengers, on whom we had some claims, went up 
the river in the boat we built, for the purpose of exam- 
ining the shallow rivers and bars. They returned in two 
or three days with unfavorable reports for mining in this 
mode, which was not unwelcome news, as by that time we 
had all we could attend to, in waiting on customers for our 
cargo. It was put up in the best manner, and it was for 
months alluded to, as the best cargo that had come to 
California, and customers came down upon us with a rush. 

Capt. Perkins, having been well schooled in the Zan- 
zibar trade, made himself very useful, and we made some 
outside operations on joint account, renewing our stock 
of goods as we sold out. 

The safe arrival up there of so large a vessel as the 
"Eliza" induced almost every one of light draft of water 
to follow, and in a short time there were lying alongside 
the river bank, at every favorable point, twenty-five or 
thirty vessels, and later Salem was well represented. 

On entering the Sacramento river the mosquitoes gave 
us a warm reception. They were very poisonous, and so 
persistent we could not eat our meals with comfort. One 
of the boys had his face so badly stung that he could not 
see, and I passed several hours in the vessel's top, that I 
might have a little respite. 

A great variety of nationalities would be seen, and 
some would be almost wild to 2:et to the mines. There 



10 

was no conveyance except for a few who could purchase 
a horse or piule, and most miners were obliged to walk 
forty or fifty miles, some taking a shovel and pick and a 
slight change of clothing. Expenses were very high, and 
no one could afford to be idle, and no one ought to be, 
for wages were sixteen dollars a day. 

The first Saturday night after we arrived, being very 
tired, I arranged to be allowed to sleep in the morning 
without being disturbed, but at daylight I was called for 
something very important ; going on deck I found three 
men and their mules on the river bank, waiting to pur- 
chase goods and load up for the mines, and when I told 
them I did not sell goods on the Sabbath they used very 
rough language, and this gave me liberty to advise them 
to keep the Sabbath to prolong their lives and that of 
their mules, assuring them that it would be better for 
both, and if they would do so and come at the same hour 
the next morning, they should be well served. They 
went away declaring that they would not trade with such 
a puritanical hypocrite, but it seems they thought better 
of it, and came as invited, and after coming two or three 
times for goods they made me their banker, depositing in 
my safe thousands of dollars. 

The immigrants were of almost every profession and 
vocation — judges, lawyers, physicians, clergymen, and 
artisans of every kind. It was amusing, though praise- 
worthy, to see them turning their hands to anything to 
earn a few dollars. I wanted some lumber hauled a short 
distance ; sending for a man who owned a yoke of oxen, 
I was surprised to have him report himself Professor 
Shepherd, of New Haven, Conn. He did all the work 
himself and in a few days earned fifty dollars. I found 
him a very pleasant acquaintance, and a most excellent 
man, as well as a good geologist. Hearing that a clergy- 



. 11 

man had come in town, .he ventured to invite him to 
preach on board a bark, but the saw and hammer, driving 
of teams, discharging and loading of goods all around, 
were a great disturbance. 

The Professor prevailed on me to join him in visiting 
the vessels and venders of goods, to urge them to refrain 
from doing business on the Sab})ath, to which they all 
consented ; and every one acknowledged that it was the 
pleasantest day they had passed in California. Service 
that day was held in a blacksmith's shop, Avhich proved 
too small to accommodate all. The next Sunday it was 
held under a gigantic oak, the trunk of which measured 
twenty-seven feet in circumference. 

Seats, boards laid on nail kegs. On this Sabbath Mr. 
Ball, son of our city missionary in Salem at that time, 
appeared with a cabinet organ. This drew quite a crowd, 
and after service the musical gentlemen, some members 
of the Handel and Hay den society of Boston, gathered 
around the organ and sang their old favorite tunes with 
the greatest enthusiasm. 

A man near our vessel worked under an oak tree 
making rough board coffins ; he was the only man that 
would not resrard the Sabbath. When we returned from 
church he boasted of having earned sixteen dollars while 
we weve gone. One of his coffins was taken for him be- 
fore the close of summer. 

The conveyance to the mines was greatly facilitated by 
the arrival in September of the immigration over land 
from the western states, furnishing a great number of ox 
teams,. horses and mules, which made it less expensive 
for the miners. 

The immigrants from Missouri, Illinois and Indiana 
would more easily conform to rough life than those from 
the eastern states. The females and children were brought 



12 

over the mountains in ox wagons, covered, and in and 
around them were sufficient cooking utensils and furniture 
to commence their new life. Some of the old pioneers 
cut down oak trees and cut them in convenient lengths to 
split, which the}'' used for boarding their houses and also 
for shingles. Some very fine horses were introduced from 
Missouri. 

A Mr. Flint, of Maine, drove, from one of the western 
states over the mountains, a flock of sheep, the first of 
fine wool introduced into California, and now he is the 
largest sheep owner there, and is very rich. 

By this time rough buildings and tents nearly covered 
several blocks, settlers were arriving daily, and it was a 
very busy place, with favorable prospects of becoming a 
commercial city. Among new comers was a man desi- 
rous of opening a restaurant, there not being any in the 
place. We put him up a building of boards eighteen by 
thirty feet, and covered it with sails from the "Eliza ;" rent 
two hundred dollars per month. This was hardly finished 
when a doctor came and wished us to build for him 
one of the same dimensions, to occupy as an apothecary ; 
rent two hundred and fifty dollars per month. Immedi- 
ately a gentleman applied for a store which he must have 
in three days, as his goods were to be landed on the 
t)ank of the river, and the third day he moved i^nto it ; 
rent three hundred dollars per month. These three build- 
ings were put up by Mr. Rideout, one of our passengers, 
which was a good advertisement for him, and from that 
time he never lacked work. He left for home in Decem- 
ber, well paid for his six months' work in California. At 
Panama he took the fever and died. He was attended by 
a kind Salem man, though a stranger. 

On the street and on where we built these stores, we 
cut down a thick growth of oak underbrush, and in six 



13 

weeks, that street with others was watered by a water 
cart. 

Quite a number of families had come in, and Prof. 
Shepherd collected the children and had a Sabbath school 
in a little shanty he built of poles and boards. The ground 
was the floor, and seats pine boards, but we found the 
children learned as well in it as if under a frescoed ceiling. 

Lumber, canvas and cotton cloth having come in freely, 
some large buildings had been erected ; the most costly 
were lised as gambling houses, and of these there were 
not a few. 

Many large groceries were in canvas tents, and it is 
worthy of note that though they could have been easily 
cut into and robbed any dark night, I have no recollection 
of any robbery while I was in Sacramento. On board 
the "Eliza" we never locked our hatches. So much for 
Dr. Lynch. 

From materials on board the "Eliza," we built two 
scows, one to be used as a ferry boat across the Sacra- 
mento river, the first one in the place, and the other for a 
German to take his vegetables to market. This man had 
about an acre cultivated, about four miles below the city. 
This was an experiment, there not being any other land 
cultivated anywhere round, and it proved a success. 
Capt. Perkins went down in his boat and purchased 
potatoes at sixty dollars per bushel, and other vegetables 
proportionably high, of which he sold enough at a profit 
to give us a taste without cost. We, however, indulged 
in a little extravagance as well as experiment. Takiug a 
squash at two dollars, eggs two dollars per dozen, and 
milk two dollars per gallon, we made some pies. These 
reminded us of home and paid us for the trouble. A bag 
containing about two bushels of onions on the way to the 
mines passed through our hands at eighty-five dollars. 



14 

Prof. Shepherd, while prospecting among the moun- 
tains, always carried his blankets for his covering at 
night, his saddle served as a iDillow, and the earth as a 
mattress. All travellers were obliged to camp out in this 
way. This exposure and irregular living carried off great 
numbers the first year in California. 

Occasionally an old resident of California came along 
and spoke of having seen the location of Sacramento 
under water, but ten to one contradicted these reports, 
and we thought it could not be true ; but when the rainy 
season came, the river above the city overflowed, and ran 
in back of it, flooding it all except high ridges. This was 
a severe blow to the place, causing a great depreciation in 
real estate i and was proof that it would never be a rival 
to San Francisco. The next season the water rose much 
higher than before, inundating the whole city, carrying 
away houses and furniture. On the trees down below 
Sacramento near the river, chairs were seen hanging some 
fifteen feet from the ground. For several days no one 
could leave their houses, except in boats and on rafts, 
and in many places they would step from the second 
story into boats. The city has since been raised, I think 
ten feet. It is perfectly secure now from floods. 

Dec. 1, 1850. My attention was turned to San Fran- 
cisco to meet Mr. J. P. Flint from Boston, who came out 
to join me in business, and we formed a partnership 
under the style of Flint & Peabody. We built a store 
within thirty feet of the wharf on which we at first 
landed. While our store was building, two gentlemen, 
my partner and myself, hired a shanty, one room and 
kitchen. In one corner we had a table, and when our 
mattresses were spread on the floor at night it was en- 
tirely covered. Some of us were quite accustomed to 
this mode of life, which was far better than hundreds 



15 

around us, living in tents, and there were several hun- 
dred of these. 

The city had improved greatly in appearance in the few 
months past, many buildings having been erected, among 
which were a city hall, a large banking house, a Baptist 
church — the first Protestant church built in California. 
I have in my possession a photograph of the original 
building sent me by a friend last month. A company 
from Salem had arrived in a ship, and put up a very large 
building which they rented. That season was a very wet 
one, none of the streets were paved, and in some low 
places no teams could pass, and pedestrians often found 
the longest boots too short. 

There was a great accumulation of various articles of 
merchandise, utterly unsalable, and of so little value, not 
having store room, they were left out exposed to weather. 
In one of the worst crossings some half dozen or more 
boxes of tobacco, one hundred and twenty pounds weight, 
were placed ; also barrels of spoiled provisions. Gold 
washers, which came out in almost every vessel, and were 
of no value, were used as stepping stones. 

The harbor presented a lively appearance. Some one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred vessels of different 
nations were anchored in the bay, and some had been 
beached to be used for the sale of their cargoes. A wharf 
eight hundred feet long had been built. Lumber arriving 
daily had fallen in price, so as to induce a great amount 
of building, some very large gambling houses, and there 
were many of them which were well patronized night 
and day, and seemed to be the only place of amusement 
for the idle. 

In the spring of 1850, a great fire burned over three 
blocks. It spread so rapidly but little merchandise was 
saved ; every gambling house and saloon was burned. I 



16 

think the fire occurred on Thursday. On the Sunday 
morning following, on our way to church, w^e passed a 
building, the only one put up since the fire, and we heard 
the jingling of the specie on the table, which seemed to 
be in defiance of the Almighty. 

The favorable accounts we gave Mr. Bertram on our 
arrival induced him to engage in this trade with his ac- 
customed energy. In early spring three vessels arrived 
with full cargoes, loaded at Salem by Mr. Bertram, and 
soon after two others followed. We had several other 
cargoes consigned which kept us occupied. 

Capt. Perkins settled up his business and left for home 
in the June steamer via the Isthmus. He was the first 
that fulfilled the promise of the song, 

"A pocket full of rocks bring home." 

We were greatly surprised one day at the arrival of 
two small clipper tea ships, with assorted cargoes from 
New York, in little over one hundred days. These short 
passages created quite an excitement, and ever}? one rea- 
lized the advantage of having their goods come by fast 
sailing ships. 

The gold covering a vast surface of country was an 
established fact, and could not be exhausted for years. 
My partner proposed my returning home, and establish- 
ing a line of fast ships from Boston, which w^ould com- 
mand high freights and result in a profitable business. I 
took the first July steamer to Panama, crossed the Isthmus 
on a mule, came down the Chagres river in a canoe burned 
out of a large log, and arrived home in thirty-six days. 

Mr. Flint's son was taken into our firm and the style 
has since been Flint, Peabody & Co. No line from Bos- 
ton had been established, and seeing the importance of 
an early movement, an arrangement between our firm and 



17 

Messrs. Glidden & Williams to establish one was at once 
consummated, they to procure freights in Boston, and 
Flint, Peabody & Co. to collect them in San Francisco, 
and it was called "Glidden & Williams' Line." 

There were but few fast or clipper ships in the United 
States at that time, and as such ships would command 
freights at double the price of common ships, it was 
determined by Mr. Bertrani and the owners of the line, 
with one other firm in Boston, to build an extreme clipper 
of one thousand, one hundred tons. In September a 
contract with an East Boston ship builder Avas made for 
such a ship, and to have her ready to receive cargo by 
January 1. Her keel was laid at once, the work pro- 
gressed satisfactorily, and in due time she was launched. 
Complimentary to Mr. Bertram, who had been so con- 
spicuous in the California trade, tlfb majority of the 
owners named her for him, the "John Bertram." She was 
rigged and fitted for sea, loaded in Glidden & Williams' 
line, and sailed January 10 with a full cargo, at one dollar 
per foot or forty dollars per ton. One article of her 
cargo shipped by her owners was ten thousand dozens of 
eggs, put up in tins, which sold for ten thousand dollars. 

This was the first clipper ship that was built expressly 
for the California trade. The same owners soon after 
built the famous clipper ship "Witch of the Wave, of 
fifteen hundred tons, and subsequently four others of the 
same model averaging fifteen hundred tons each. 

Mr. Bertram and others, with Flint, Peabody & Co., 
iii 1853 established in San Francisco the ice trade, having 
employed in this five ships, aggregating thirty-three hun- 
dred tons. It was afterwards ascertained that ice could 
be introduced from Sitka at lower rates than from Boston, 
and they gave up the trade. 

June, 1851, a great fire swept over the city. Fifteen 
2 



18 

blocks were burned, and eight others partially, occupied 
by fifteen hundred buildings, estimated loss four million 
dollars. Flint, Peabody & Co. were burned out; their 
store was the last building burnt. • Their loss was heavy ; ' 
no insurance. 

The line from Boston proved a success, as may be seen 
by the following statistics, which are copied from the San 
Francisco almanac of 1859 : — 

" As an interesting datum in illustration of the changes 
which have taken place in the commerce of San Fran- 
cisco, both as regards its nature and its channels, we 
place the following table before our readers. 

It is a statement of the amount paid as freight to, and 
the number of tons of cargo carried by, and the vessels 
consigned to a single house, Messrs. Flint, Peabody & 
Co., commencing with the first ship of 'that line, the 
"John Bertram." * 

AMOUNT OF FREIGHT LIST. 

In 1852, 27 ships, 32,959 tons of goods, $ 854,583 77 



1853, 49 ' 


' 75,849 




1,810,446 29 


1854, 30 ' 


' 49,727 




" 992,633 29 


1855, 2G ' 


' 47,681 




" 634,418 93 


1856, 26 ' 


« 49,499 




" 677,312 57 


1857, 24 ' 


' 42,791 




464,579 69 


1858, 25 " 46,892 




" 531,887 01 


207 


345,398 


$5,965,862 14 



Choice fruit, in the early days of California, was almost 
unknown. I sent out from Boston three hundred pear, 
three hundred apple, two hundred and fifty peach and one 
hundred and fifty plum trees, raspberries, currants, etc., 
all these of the choicest varieties, which we set out on our 
farm, expecting to realize great profits, but when they 
came into bearing so many others had done the same 
thing that fruit could not be marketed to pay expenses. 

It may be noticed that from 1854 the quantity of goods 



19 

shipped from the east was every year decreasing, as many 
articles which were formerly shipped from the east were 
produced there. That has been the case ever since. 
From July, 1855 to^Nov., 1856, one article (East Boston 
syrup) consigned to our house amounted to $563,588.00. 
Soon after, sugar retineries were established there, and 
now they are seeking a market for their surplus syrup. 

In 1859 the same house received from Boston a full 
cargo of flour, sixty-tive hundred barrels, which paid a 
fair freight. In 1869, from July to December 31, the 
shipments from San Francisco of wheat and flour were 
equal to one million, six hundred thousand barrels. The 
same year the wool clip was fifteen million pounds, all of 
fine quality. 

The official returns of the census of 1850 make the 
population ninety-two thousand, five hundred and ninety- 
seven. In 1857 the population had increased to five hun- 
dred and thirty-eight thousand and two. 

As earl}'- as 1859 by the "State Register," it appears 
the "Great Overland" Mail was established from Memphis 
and St. Louis to San Francisco via Fort Smith, to Fort 
Fillmore above El Paso. Thence to Fort Yuma on the 
Colorado, to Los Angeles to San Francisco semi-weekly, 
schedule time twenty-five days. Butterfield & Co., con- 
tractors. Also, the Central Overland or Salt Lake City 
Mail, I'rom St. Joseph. Mo., to Salt Lake, thence through 
Carson Valley to Placerville, weekly ; leaves St. Joseph 
every Saturday'. Schedule time from St. Joseph, twenty- 
two days. Hockoday & Corpening, contractors. 

It appears by the "Register" of the same year that 
there were one hundred and twenty-seven lodges of Free 
Masons, and seventy-eight lodges of Odd Fellows ; an 
Agricultural Society, State Horticultural Society, Cali- 
fornia Society of Natural History, State Medical Society, 



> 



20 

Mechanics' Institute, Academy of Natural Science, and 
tliirty-two libraries, containing sixty-five thousand vol- 
umes. This does not include the State Library located 
at Sau Francisco, the oldest and most extensive in the 
state, library Santa Clara College, San Jose, Odd Fellows 
Library Association, San Francisco, Sacramento Library 
Association and California Pioneer, San Francisco. 

There were ninety different newspapers and periodicals 
published in the state of California : one hundred and 
thirty-two grist mills ; an insane asylum at Stockton, and 
the United States uiarine hospjtal at San Francisco, 
cost of building, two hundred and twenty-four thousand 
dollars. 

The following shows the value and destination of 
treasure shipped from San Francisco during the years 
1854 to 1869 (sixteen years). 

Eastern ports, $462,088,006 

England, 167,703,292 

China, 68,050,250 

Panama, 9,053,526 

Other ports, 17,598,!'24 



$724,493,958 



The amount of duties on imports in 1869 was $8,339,- 
384.14. 

This same year the amount of mining stocks sold at 
the Exchange Board in San Francisco was $30,037,707. 
There were also turned out 7,604 tons of new shipping, 
of which eleven were steamers, three barks, one brig, four 
barges, and thirty-four schooners. Eight hundred and 
fifty-eight vessels cleared at the custom house for domestic 
and foreign ports, 706,452 tons. 

In 1873 the arrivals of vessels at San Francisco were 
3,647 — 1,293,398 tons. 

Among the manufactories, there was built -by Flint, 



21 

Peabody & Co., and another firm a rope manufactory, 
making annually three million pounds Manila rope, some 
of which was twelve hundred feet long, used for hoisting 
quartz rock out of shafts. They have a barrel factory ; 
one hundred and fifty thousand barrels and half barrels, 
and one hundred thousand kegs were manufactured in 
1873. 

The coinage at the branch mint in 1873 amounted to 
$22,075,400. 

Our Boston house bought the railroad iron for the first 
railway that was built in California, and negotiations were 
made through them for the first five thousand tons of iron 
for the Central Pacific railroad, and also for the sale of 
the first bonds on that road. 

At the close of 1869 I withdrew from the firm of Flint, 
Peabody & Co., after a partnership of twenty years. 
The house is continued under the same style, by the sons 
of the senior partner, who died last March. 

To show still farther the changes which have taken 
place, I have ascertained that only two ships have loaded 
in Boston for San Francisco the present year, 1873. The 
revolutions in trade and commerce, and the resources 
which have been developed in agriculture and manufac- 
tures in twenty-five years, are beyond parallel in the 
history of our country or the world. 

The following statistics are taken from the " Trade 
Review" : — 

Wheat product of 1873, 25,000,000 bushels 

Wheat and flour exports in 1873, 10,650.000 centals. 

Gold and silver yield in 1873, $ 82,000,000. 

Coinage of San Francisco mint in 1873, 22,075,400, 

Coinage of mint from 1854 to Dec. 31, 1873, 350,000,000. 
Foreign imports, values of, [n 1873, 83,560,000. 

Merchandise, export valu..- by sea, in 1873, 31,160,000. 
Mining stock sales in 1873, 146,400,000. 



22 

Lumber receipts in 1873, 203,330,000 feet. 

Wool clip, 3G,000,000 pounds. 

Domestic coals received in fourteen years, 1,700,000 tons. 
Wine products of 1873, 2,500,000 gallons. 

Deposits in the California savings banks, $55,000,000. 
Banking capital of the state, $100,000,000 gold. 

The ship "John Bertram" was sold eighteen years ago. 
She has been rnnning ever since. On the 12th of last 
month she was in the port of New York, and the captain, 
her present owner, wrote to a gentleman in this city, 
speaking of her in the highest terms. He valued her so 
highly that he wanted the photograph of the person for 
whom she was named to hang up in his cabin. 

Not only did the California trade give birth to the 
clipper ship, which resulted in the revolution of ship 
modelling here and abroad (though the extreme clippers 
were in vogue but a few years, giving place to nearly flat 
floors, retaining the sharp ends to combine capacit}^ with 
speed), but innumerable branches of industry were mag- 
nified or developed by this trade, and on this 23d of 
December, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the sailing of 
the "Eliza" from Salem, it is hard to realize in the great 
California of to-day, the rough country we landed at in 
its infancy. 

Salem, Dec. 23, 1873. 



ACCOUNT 



EARLY CALIFORNIA VOYAGE. 



^ X 



JOHN H. EAGLESTON 



FROM E8SKX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, VOL. XII, NO. 2. 



SALEM, MASS.: 
PRINTED AT THE SALEM PRESS. 

1874. 



AN EARLY CALIFORNIA VOYAGE.* 

Some eighteen months or two years ago New Bedford 
claimed the clearing of the first ship from Massachusetts 
with a cargo for San Francisco, after the discovery of the 
golden elephant had set the world wild and from every 
point of the compass thousands rushed to the golden 
waters in pursuit of fortunes from the earthy bowels of 
the mighty monster. But some friend, in overhauling 
the New Bedford log and drifting back to dates, I think 
through the "Register," gave the Mary & Ellen, of Salem, 
as first on the list for that port. The two articles were 
stowed away for safe keeping, but at the present time are 
not to be found. This I much regret, as I would like to 
give dates. 

I now see, by the " Gazette " of January 21, an article 
by Mr. Alfred Peabody, my friend and pioneer in gold 
dust seeking, falling into line with the barque "Eliza," 
December 23, about two months after my sailing as first 
vessel from Massachusetts for that port, with a cargo for 
gold dust hunters ; as if my clearing via San Francisco, 
thence to the beautiful groves of cocoanuts and plan- 
tains, hove the " Mary & Ellen " a little in the shade. If 
the terms via or direct were in the clearance I cannot say ; 
and believing it is of no consequence, I will in "plane 

• We are permitted to insert, in connection with the preceding paper, this account 
of an early California voyage, in the Brig " Mary & Ellen " from Salem to San 
Francisco, by Capt. John H. Eagleston. 

25 



26 

sailing" give your readers a sketch of my log from my 
first movement, and let them decide to which of the two 
the first credit belongs. And as I am docked for repairs 
of one of my main spars, I will wear away a portion of 
my dull time, while the slow work goes on. 

Owing to severe losses, I found I must move in some 
direction to make them up ; and after much thought on 
the course to pursue, I decided to buy a fast vessel and 
proceed to the Pacific. As I was well acquainted with 
all ports from St. Carlos to Guayaquil, where sales of any 
account could be made, I determined to visit San Fran- 
cisco and ports south, in order to make what sales might 
be possible, and learn what the show was for a return 
cargo ; thence to Guayaquil and load some seven hundred 
quintals of cocoa for Manila, where, and in China, through 
friends, I could load for the Coast, Society and Sandwich 
Islands. Going to Baltimore I bought of Hooper & 
Cheesbury the half brig "Zeno," of one hundred and 
ninety-five tons, for seven thousand dollars cash, and as 
she was not registered I named her the "Mary & Ellen," 
after my two daughters. She was at once loaded with 
corn and flour for J. Safford, Esq., of this city, and, in 
charge of a Baltimore captain, made the voyage to Salem 
in three days. The flour was lauded in Salem and the 
corn in Danversport, the last proving to be a job of some 
days. 

As soon as possible I commenced alterations on cabin, 
and, wanting a young man to take one quarter's interest 
and go with me, after consulting several parties the situ- 
ation was disposed of to Mr. John Henry Proctor. 

While on the ways for coppering, the California mail 
arrived, by which Capt. J. W. Chever received a letter 
from his son Henry, who was in San Francisco, saying 
gold had been discovered in large quantity, and enclosing 



27 

a list of articles ■wanted for the occasion. This informa- 
tion was kept quiet, and outside of this I heard nothing 
of gold. But believinix the arrival of the next mail would 
cause a great movement in that direction, the "JNIary & 
Ellen" was placed in position and loaded with as little 
delay as possible — the Hon. S. C. Phillips, Capt. Chever 
and J. W. Peele being the principal shippers ; Mr. E. H. 
Knight shipping an invoice on his own hook, and several 
other friends doing the same. My cargo consisted of 
beef, pork, flour, hams, blankets, clothing, crowbars, 
picks, shovels, tin pans, etc., etc. ; also liquors and wines 
of various kinds. These last, on account of ship, A. & 

C. Cunningham, and S. F. Wyman, of Boston. 
Closing up our wants, we sailed on the 28th of October, 

1848, direct for the golden fields, having as passengers 

D. A. Chever and a Mr. Vaughan, the latter having 
visited California before, and intending to make it his 
home ; my foremast hands being six boys, each having 
made one voyage to taste the pleasures of sea-sickness. 
Owing to heavy easterly weather for fourteen days, we 
made but little headway, and the passage to the line was 
long. But here I was pleased to learn we were not the 
only one on long time, as also to see we were not to be left 
in the rear, as the slow coach of a large southbound fleet, 
which was pleasant to view as they dropped astern. And 
from latitude six degrees north to thirty-five degrees south 
we came up with and passed thirty-six sail on the same 
course as the "Mary & Ellen." 

In our run to the south, an incident occurred, the like 
of which, I think, was never logged before. We were 
under double reefs, with an ugly short sea, and a strong 
breeze a little forward of the starboard beam, the "JNIary 
& Ellen" more under water than above. The second 
mate, from the starboard bow, struck a porpoise, and 



28 

about the same time the brig made a dive and the por- 
poise was taken on board between the lee cat and knight 
heads, and landed by the windlass, greatly enraged with 
the wild leap he had made ; and had it not been for this it 
would have been impossible to save him. 

Soon after leaving home, Mr. Proctor had a running 
sore break out on the end of his forefinger, right hand, 
Avith which, and a consumptive cough of old standing, he 
gently passed from us, and, mourned and lamented by all, 
under the usual sea forms his remains were committed to 
ocean's blue tomb, with the long waves of Cape Horn 
majestically rolling over his once manly form. 

With short detention off the Cape, and a full share of 
adverse and light winds, we arrived at San Francisco at 
three p. m., March 28, 1849. A show of the elephant 
was soon on board, the display of golden eggs from the 
pockets of land-sharks, and their glowing stories of big 
lumps setting my boys in a high fever for the gold fields. 
The second night in, my second mate and three of the 
boys stole the long boat and ran. The next morning, 
finding my boat on the beach, and a shark from a den a 
few rods off by her, I informed him the boat was mine. 
He replied, "all right. I want forty-five dollars for 
picking her up." Believing his demand for lying over 
large, I proceeded to the office of the Alcade,and stating 
the case to him, he said, "You must pay it; there is no 
law here to help you." I took his advice, paid it, and 
went on my way rejoicing that the squeeze was no heav- 
ier. Seeing I should soon be left without help, my mate 
having taken his ticket of leave, I increased the cook's 
pay to three hundred dollars per month, and that of the 
boys to two hundred and fifty. 

My salable cargo was soon disposed of; and that por- 
tion not of ready sale I concluded to take up to Oregon, 



29 

and put up several notices for passengers. Three were 
soon on the list, one of them a Judge Pratt. I was now 
in want of men. But, owing to the sharks fitting them 
out, and sending them to the mines for a stated time, and 
receiving one-half of their diggings for the outfit, it was 
very difficult to find them ready to move from the golden 
scenes that surrounded their movements ; and knowing 
they were masters of the situation, they had become very 
independent and exacting in their notions. Running foul 
of two or three hard looking coons, I hove aback with, 
"My men, do you wish to ship?" "I don't know, what 
is the wages?" "Three hundred dollars per month." 
"We can do better than that ; how are we to live?" "On 
usual ship fare, and have all you can eat." "That won't 
do. If we go we must have ham, eggs, butter, soft tack 
and canned meats, and all the liberty we want while in 
port." Not wishing to submit to furnishing so goldish 
and gouty a bill of fare, I hauled oft' to think the matter 
over. But having an unexpected call from Ross, Benton 
& Co., to purchase the "Mary & Ellen" for the same 
voyage, I sold to them for fifteen thousand dollars in gold 
dust, and, disposing of a few articles to Mr. Pratt, the 
balance of the cargo was stored on the beach, at one 
dollar a barrel per month. At this time, for want of in- 
side room, outside storage was large ; and although show^- 
ing every kind of merchandise, not the first article was 
ever molested. Cost of landing about twelve dollars per 
ton, and in some instances largely over this figure. Also 
freight to Sacramento on flour six dollars per barrel, and 
to Stockton I paid thirty-six dollars on four barrels of 
pork. 

On the 17th of April I made a shipment of gold dust 
to J. W. Peele, which I believe will prove to be the first 
on Salem account from that place. 



30 

On the first of June I was veiy pleasantly surprised by 
a call from Capt. Perkins and Mr. Peabody, they having 
just arrived in the "Eliza" from Salem. Information and 
assistance were jjiven to them to forward their movements 
in pushing up to Sacramento. ^3y request of my friends, 
I was to breakfast with them on Sunday morning. On 
my way to where I was to take the boat, I met Lieut. 
Blair, of old acquaintanceship, and at this time master of 
the schooner "Sagadahoc," and running up the Sacramento. 
Knowing he was well acquainted with the river, and must 
be a good pilot, I invited him to go on board with me. 
He did so, and it was arranged between the three parties 
that he should take the sliip up, and, as 1 understood it, 
w^as to be accompanied by the schooner, and, in case the 
"Eliza" mudded at any time, was to be relieved by her. 
Without loss of time the "Eliza" was off, my friends de- 
lighted at what they had seen of the elephant, and, I have 
no doubt, rejoicing over the larger show in stoi'e for them. 
In this movement up these beautiful inland waters, I think 
they w^ill head the list as first vessel of the "Eliza" class 
and draught that ever ascended the Sacramento river. 

On board of the "Eliza" there were quite a number of 
passengers. Several of these remaining in San Fran- 
cisco pitched their tent in Happy Valley, where Mr. Jona- 
than Nichols, stored as he was with fun and song, assisted 
by his social and free hearted com[)anions, made their 
quarters at all times inviting and pleasant. I was often 
with them, and under evening's beautiful sky, did the 
echo of good singing please the squatters that composed 
the little beehive villages which dotted the valley, espe- 
cially with "The Washbowl on my Knee," which was the 
usual wind-up. 

My affairs squared up, I took passage, in company with 
Capt. \. Batcheldcr, of this cit}^ on board the steamer 



31 

Oregon, Capt. B., about the first of July, for Panama, — 
passage per head two hundred and fifty dollars. The 
third day out we were put upon ship-made water, right 
from the receiving tanks, beautifully hot, and as rusty as 
an old anchor of twenty years' use. This we thought to 
be a dodge, by those interested, to force the sale of ale, 
which now became large at one dollar per bottle. Our 
table was also very scanty in supply ; and although we 
touched at several places where water and supplies were 
handy and plenty, not the first show of either was ob- 
tained. 

One knot more and we leave the Oregon, with her 
lockers cleared out. On a line with our course, and well 
to the south, lay a shoal which was not on the ship's 
charts ; but on board were two passengers, a lieutenant 
in the United States navy and a coast captain who were 
well acquainted with the shoal, and by them Capt. B. was 
informed of its existence and position. Of this little 
notice was taken, and with a show of all confidence in a 
clear sea before us, the ship under full power was driving 
onward, ten to eleven miles per hour. The day was 
pleasant,, without sufiicient air to ruffle the ocean's glassy 
surface, when, about eleven p.m., the first officer playing 
booby in an armchair, and the watch following his ex- 
ample, while fortunately several cabin passengers were 
still moving about the deck, one of them an old ship- 
master; both of steam and canvas, seeing the ship was 
entering rippling water, jumped on the bridge, saw our 
danger, and pulled the bell for a stern board. This saved 
us, and although she struck quite heavily, she was soon 
backed oft', and saved from becoming a monument for 
others in the line. 

Arriving at Panama, mules and guides were chartered 
for our passage across the isthmus. Moving in the morn- 



32 

ing, under a pouring plumb-down rain, and a Don Quix- 
ote ride all day, by novel and narrow channels, througli a 
wild, varying and interesting scenery, we reached Gor- 
gona late in the afternoon, in a very uncomfortable condi- 
tion. And if, as the Feejee men say, sailors, from long 
use of salt provisions, become too salt for good eating, it 
was at this time most thoroughly soaked out. In the 
morning, by canoes and two or three boats, we descended 
the river, which is small, and at nine p.m. arrived on 
board the steamer " Crescent City, Capt. Stoddard, for 
New York, stopping at Jamaica for supplies. Capt. B. 
and myself reached home on Sunday morning, sometime 
in August, and I believe showed the first golden lumps 
In-ouirht into Salem from California : as also two small 
leather bags handed me in San Francisco, under a verbal 
receipt, containing each one thousand dollars, one of which 
was for a New Bedford lady, and one for a Mrs. Smith, of 
Vineyard Haven. These were placed in the Commercial 
Bank, until called for. 



LIBRORY OF CONGRESS 



002 036 881 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



002 036 881 



